Folding cabinet bed



March 13, 1951 c LQCHRIDGE 2,544,762

FOLDING CABINET BED Filed NOV. 1, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 62w: Loam/06E: BY I March 13, 1951 G. C LOCHRIDGE FOLDING CABINET BED 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 1, 19- 8 INVENTOR. GENE C. LOCHf/DGE Patented Mar. 13, 195i UNITED STATES PATENT?" OFFICE";

FOLDING CABINET BED;

Gene"ChappelIzochi-idge, Los Angeles, Calif.

ApplicationiN'ovember 1, 19.48, Serial.No.57;821i;

IS'CI'aiinS. (01." 5-6) This invention, relates to folding beds. The

general objector the invention is tov prov-idea iolding bed embodying acabinet which receives the bed in the folded position thereof and, when closed, has the proportions and appearance of chest. of drawers or. other cabinet or. chest constituting. a desirable article of furniture for any roomof. a. dwelling house; or ofilce, including a livingroom.

A further object. of. theinvention is to provide .51-

adaptedjto fold together"; accordion like, as the result of" a' push appliedto'the outerend of'the bed and to unfold as the result-of a pull applied tothe outer end ofthe bed. Another object is'to provide a' combined foldingbedan'd' receiving cabinet-therefor comprising a plurality of hinged bed sections "adapted'to' fold from'horizontal use position tovertical stowed positionsarranged side byside'from'front to back'of the cabinet, in upstanding positions:

Another object-of"the'invention is toprovide, in acombination folding bedand receiving cabinet therefor, mechanism connecting'the inner end of the bed to the cabinetin such a manner as tocause'the innerbedsection to fold to an upright-position within the cabinet as the result or a push appliedhorizontally' to'the inner section from the outer section of the bed, and to swing downwardly from such vertical stowed position to a horizontal use position asa' result of'a-xpull applied'to itsiouter end by'the outer bed section.

A further object is to provide, in a foldingbed comprising a plurality of. hinged together sections. adapted. to move from a horizontaluse position to. upstanding stowed positions, anarrangement in which the respective sectionszare supported directly upon a flooror other suppcrting surface; saidsupporting means being adapted to-rtrayel horizontally upon'said floor surface-in the movement of. the sections'to and from stowed position;v

Theiioregoing general object hasbeen accomplished generally; by the utilization of a bed comprisingthree,sections, namely, a foot section, an intermediatesection hinged tothe foot :section at the lowersurfaceloi'the.bediso that these two sections maywbreakupwardly, and a head section connected to. the intermediate. section by multiple pivot hinge mechanism. which allows the head and intermediatesections to break downwardlyas readily as. if they were hingedtogether at the upper surface ofithe bed; butis positioned almost entirelybelow theb'ottom level of'the bed in its extended position,. sosas not to interfere with the cushioning actionoff the bed. Means are then provided. to .cause thehead'end" of "the head section. to. swing upwardly, as. the head and intermediatesectionsbreak downwardlinand the foot section .is so mounted'ithat the. pressureapplied to, itfor. pushing thebed'into'the closed position will naturally result in a. downward movementof. its .foot end and an upward movement of the hinge. joining it tov the. intermediate section, whereby the two. hinge connections will automatically breakin the. direction indicated and .the sections will move to their stowed positionspurely as theresult of the push applied'to the foot .end of the. bed;

One-.of. the problemsinvolvedI-in achievingthis result has -been that ofiproviding suitable means for. connecting theihead "endiof the head section to. thee cabinetlor othen'head support .so as to causethe head'endioffthe biedft'o swing. upwardly in the..mo.vement ofithe bed-'toward th'e stowed position. A particular. aspect. of this problem was arrequirement that the. suspending. means iortheheadiof'the.bed be capable of guidingeth'e head ,enel-of .ithe bed from it$extendediposition 'to. astowed. position in a. direction more horizontal than vertical; In. the stowed position of the bed..sections,.their upper ends have only. slight clarancefromthe. top. of the. storage space. It is.to.be..understood in this connection that one of theobjectsof the .inventionis-Ito provide for a compact .arrangement of thebed. section in the storage. space, utilizing. practically. alliof. the storage'space, this; being, particularly" important where. thestorage. cabinetlis the fbrmoiia chest or.-.oth'er-article.OfJfurniture sufliiently low tolpresenta pleasing.,.efiect.. It'is. especially importantwherev (as-:inthe embodiment of the in: 'vention herein .chosen asan. example. of .the preferrediorm oftheinvention), there is embodied a. drawer above .the: storage space. cutting down the height otth'e .avail'ablespace. for storage. It therefore: deemed: necessary to pivot. the swinging links (by which the head of thebedis suspendedr-on-an axisno-higher than the height of: thehead end. ot'thenbedin its stored position.

v The requirement for. a...predetermined height of the bed from the floor therefore determines the distance between the head end of the bed and the axis of swinging movement of the suspending mechanism. This is less than the distance from the axis to the rear of the storage compartment. This necessitates the movement of the head end of the bed rearwardly and upwardly in a direction more rearwardly than upwardly. This requirement is met in the present invention by employing suspension devices each comprising a pair of links pivotally connected together, together with means for limiting the movement of the respective links in such a manner as to bring the head end of the bed to the proper position when the bed is extended.

An important characteristic of the invention is the mounting of the foot section of the bed upon a carriage which rolls upon the floor and pivotally supports the foot section so that the latter may swing with reference thereto. The pivotal connection between the foot section and this supporting carriage is located sufficiently forwardly of the foot of the bed so that by pressing downwardly against the foot end and simultaneously pushing it toward the cabinet, the foot section will be caused to tilt in the proper direction to break, in an upward direction, the hinge between it and the intermediate section. In order that it may maintain stability against tipping, this carriage extends td a substantial distance horizontally on either side of its pivot axis. This creates the problem of interference between this carriage and the intermediate section as the sections approach the stowed position. This problem has been taken care of by spacing the end brackets of this carriage outwardly sufiiciently to pass or overlap the roller supports for the two hinge connections of the bed.

Another problem has been that of providing adequate support for the hinge between the intermediate and foot sections in the extended position of the bed. While theoretically it looks possible with such a hinge, breaking upwardly, to provide in the hinge itself means to rigidify the two sections in the horizontal position, from a practical standpoint it has been deemed inadvisable to rely upon such a hinge for support over extended period of service. In this connection it is an object of the invention to provide a bed of rugged and durable construction, that will'not collapse under ordinary usage. Accordingly, the invention contemplates the use of roller supporting means at the outer hinge, and in order that such supporting means may properly fold between the intermediate and outer bed sections in the stowed position of the bed, there is provided two independently hinged roller supports at each side of the bed, tied together by yielding means which resist their spreading apart and which cooperate with stop means to position them in upright positions in the extended position of the bed and permit them to accommodate themselves to the folding of the two sections together by hinging with reference to their respective bed sections. These roller supports are adapted to have whatever brief rolling connection with the floor is necessary in the final stage of extending movement and the initial stage of folding movement, but quickly lift off the floor and are thereafter free to accommodate themselves to stowed positions between their respective sections.

I The invention is further characterized by the provision of roller support mechanism for the head and intermediate bed sections adjacent the hinged connections therebetween, said roller support mechanism providing roller support at points spaced longitudinally of the bed; providing roller supports that maintain supporting engagement with the floor while the bed sections shift from vertical to upright positions and vice versa; and provide a hinged connection between these two bed sections which is adapted to yield to permit a limited amount of spreading movement between these sections to avoid interference between the adjacent corners of the springs thereof during the folding and unfolding movements. This roller support mechanism further includes spring or equivalent yielding means for urging the above referred to separation of the sections during the hinging movement. It also includes means for latching the parts together in a rigidified relationship in the extended position of the bed. All of these characteristics constitute further objects of the invention.

Another object of the invention is to provide a foldable bed in several sections embodying three independent spring sections hinged together, and a mattress in two sections one of which is foldable to conform to the hinging movements of the spring sections. A further object is to provide a bed having means for hinging the sections together in such a manner as to permit the mattress to be folded between the two sections that break downwardly, without interfering with the hinging movement thereof.

A further object is to provide a combined folding bed and receiving cabinet therefore embodying a door mounted for movement from a position closing the front of the cabinet, with the bed stowed therein, to a position removed from the space into which the bed is stowed. In the preferred form of the invention herein disclosed, this is accomplished by utilizing a door panel having a combined pivotal and sliding connection with the cabinet at the upper forward corner of the storage space, such that the door may be swung upwardly from its normally closed position to a horizontal position in which it may be slid rearwardly into the cabinet at the top of the storage space, with its lower surface in a plane that is just cleared by the bed sections as they fold into the cabinet. The invention further provides for a head board constituted by a section of the door panel which hinges downwardly from the panel as in the retracted position just described, and a cooperating panel section hinged to the head of the bed and adapted to swing upwardly to meet the depending section of the door panel. The head panel section is also adapted to fold downwardly against the upper surface of the head section of the bed, thereby to assist in retaining the covers in place.

Other objects will become apparent in the ensuing specifications and appended drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my improved cabinet bed, with the bed in an intermediate position between the extended and stowed positions;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the cabinet, closed;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the cabinet with the door .panel in the retracted position, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 3a is a detail sectional view taken on a portion of the line 33, but with the door panel moved forwardly of its Fig. 3 position;

Fig. 4 is an isometric detail view of portions of the frame of the intermediate and front sec- 5 tions of the bed, together with the associated roller support mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the cabinet, showing the bed in an intermediate position of extending movement;

, Fig. 6- is a transverse sectional view of the cabinet showing the bed in the fully extended position ready for use;

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal horizontal sectional view of the cabinet with the bed folded therein, taken on the lines 'I'? of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view showing the spreading of the inner hinge during the intermediate stage of folding or unfolding movement of the head and intermediate sections; Fig. 9 is a detaii of the hinge between the respective brackets of the roller support mechanism connecting the head and intermediate sections; and

Fig. 10 is a detail sectional view showing the overlapping of the inner roller support carriage by the outer roller support carriage, taken as in- (heated by the line li0 of Fig. 6.

As an example of one form in which the invention may be embodied, I have shoWn in the drawings a folding bed having a cabinet in the general shape of a chest and having the general appearance of a chest of drawers in the closed position thereof shown in Fig. 2. The cabinet includes upright end walls H, a rear wall [2, a top l3, drawer slides lzl secured to the end walls I.l below the top 13 to define. a drawer compartment t in which is slidably mounted a drawer l6; and a door panel H which is mounted in the cabinet by means of pins l3 (Fig. 3a) projecting from its opposite ends at its normally upper edge and engaged in grooves 19 in the end walls H.

The grooves l9 terminate in forward ends 2!] disposed just rearwardly of the plane of the front of the chestcabinet. When the hinge l8 engages the forward ends it of the groove IS, the door panel l1 may be swung downwardly from the horizontal position shown in Figs. 1, 3, 3a, 5 and 6 to the depending closed position shown in Fig. 2; The ends 28 function as stops to prevent the door panel being pulled entirely out of the cabinet. From the. closed position of Fig. 2 the door panel may be swung upwardly and forwardly until it. reaches. a horizontal position, and thence maybe pushed rearwardly, its intermediate portion. supported by and sliding upon the. upper ends of bearing plates. 2|, and its rear extremity supported by the pins iii sliding in the. grooves H].

In its raised position, the door panel i1 defines the top of a bed receiving compartment 22;. In this compartment is normally stowed the folding bed which comprises a head section A, an intermediate section B, and a foot: section C. Each of these sections comprises a frame which, although it may be constructed from wood, metal or other suitable material, is shown in the form of'a pair of longitudinal side bars joined by transverse bars, all of wood. These side bars are indioated at 23, 23' and 23 respectively in the three sections A, B and C and the transverse bars are indicated at 26, 25 in the section A, 24', 25;

in the section B, and 2d", 25" in the section C. Secured to the upper faces of these three frames are supporting plates 26, 26' and 26" (Fig. 5-)- which may be of plywood or any other suitable, relatively thin sheet material having adequate strength and stiffness to support the spring sections 2?, 2 and 21" respectively. The individual springs of spring sections 21, 21"

sections A and B are connected by connecting devices D (Fig. 8) including hinges 29, and the frames of intermediate'and foot sections B and C are connected by hinges 3B: The hinges 30 are located at the lower surface of the sections B and C, in the extended position of th bed, so as to permit the sections B and C to break upwardly, and the connecting devices D are constructed so as to provide for downward breaking of the Sections A and B, when the bed is being folded to the stowed position. The hinges 29 are not, however, located at th upper surface of the bed in the extended position of the bed. This would impair the cushioning function of the bed, and one of the objects of the invention is. to provide a connecting mechanism which will permit the head and intermediate sections to break downwardly and yet is disposed almost entirely below the'level of both the mattress and the springs when the bed is extended so as not to cause any uncomfortable projection in the region of cushioning support that is provided by the bed. To. this end, the hinges 29 are employed to connect together pairs of roller support brackets 31. which may, as shown, comprise simply rectangular blocks of wood, and the brackets 3! are. in turn pivotally connected by pivots 32 to the frames of bed sections A and B at the outer upper corners of the. brackets 3!. The pivots 32 are carried by mounting plates 45. The hinging of the sections A and B- with reference to each other results primarily from the pivoting of these sections about the pivots 3.2. However, if the brackets 3i were rigidly connected together or were in the form of a single integral member, the pivots '32 would be fixedly spaced from each other and the upper adjoining corners of the springs 21,. 21' of the bed sections A and B would come together and interfere during the intermediate stage of hinging; movement shown in Fig. 5.. The springs are; not sufiiciently yieldable to satisfactorily allow for such interference, and ac.- cordingly, the invention. provides for spreading the; pivots 32' apart in order that these corners of the. springs may passv during the hinging movement. This spreading is provided for by the hing;- ing of the. brackets. 3 about the hinge 29, the upper extremities of the brackets: 34 spreading apartv to the positions shown in Figs. 5 and 8 at the stage of. maximum interference. As the sections A. and B approach either the fully extended or fully folded positions, however, the pivots 32 are permitted to move toward each other suinciently for the bracket 3! to return to the adjoining positions shown in- Figs. 3 and 6. Such return of the brackets to adjoining positions is accomplished a tension spring 33 (preferably a coil spring) the ends of which are received in bores 34 in the brackets 3! and anchored to the brackets at their ends. These springs are stretched as the brackets 31 move apart and re.- tract in drawing the brackets. back together, until they are completelyenclosed: within. the. bore 34.

Fig. 9 shows the hinges 29 in detail. Each hinge comprises a pair of bars 35, secured to respective brackets 3i, and connected by a hinge pin 36. One of these bars e. g. the bar 35, has an end portion of reduced width projecting beyond pivot 36 and adapted to engage a stop .pin or lug 33 projecting from the other bar, e. g. 35' so as to limit the spreading of the brackets 3|. In the normal adjoining positions of the brackets, the end portion of reduced width is spaced below the pin 38, as shown in Fig. 9.

The brackets 3| are provided respectively with rollers 39, 39 which engage the floor 40 at all times including the tilting of the brackets Si in their spreading movement above described.

The tilting is not suficient to bring the outer lower corners of the brackets 3| into contact with the floor. The brackets 3| are adapted to belatched together in the extended position of the bed by latch hooks 14 each pivoted to one bracket 3! and adapted to engage a pin 15 mounted in the mating bracket 3!. By locating the pivots 32 inwardly of the roller 39, the latches 14, 15 may be dispensed with and the brackets held together by the weight of a person resting on the bed.

The foot section of the bed is supported upon roller support mechanism E including a pair of brackets 4i connected by a shaft 42 to the respective ends of which the brackets 41 are se- 1 cured, and a pair of rollers 43 at the lower corners of each of the respective brackets 4!. The rollers 43 are sufiiciently spaced apart longitudinally of the bed, and the shaft 42 is sufiiciently centrally disposed between the rollers 43 to prevent any tippin of the roller support mechanism E when a push or a pull is applied to the foot section of the bed. The shaft 42 passes through side members 23" of the frame of bed section C, and through bearing plates 44 secured to the outer sides of the members 23". It will now be apparent that the foot section 0 may pivot about the shaft 42 while the roller support E travels on the floor 40.

Support for the hinged together ends of the head sections B and C is provided by roller supports F comprising separate arms 45 and 45 hinged at their upper ends to respective side frame members 23, 25" by means of right angle bends constituting trunnions 41 that are jour nalled in bores in the respective members 23', 23" and in openings in brackets 48 which are secured to the inner faces of the members 23, 23". The brackets 48 have at their inner arms, stop lugs 49 against which the arms 45, 45 may enga e to limit the movement of the arms 46, 46' toward each other. A coil sprin or other tension means 50 connects together the arms 46, 45 of each pair of roller supports F, and urges the arms 45, 46' against the lugs 49 in the extended position of the bed. As the bed sections B and C fold together, however, the arms 45, 46, are permitted to approach each other and the tension of springs 50' is relaxed, as indicated in Fig. 5. The lower ends of arms 46. 46 are bent at right angles in opposite directions (away from each other) to provide trunnions 51 on which are journalled rollers 52, 52'. The rollers 52 are, because of the opposite directions in which the trunnions 5| extend, disposed in different planes so that the rollers 52, 52' may overlap as the sections B, C come together. In this overlapping relation, the rollers 52, 52' (and the arms 46, 46) are received in the space 53 (Fig. 1) defined within the perimeter of the frames of the bed sections B and C respectively, and between the supporting plates 26', 2B".

The foot end of bed section A is suspended from bearing plates 2| through the medium of two pairs of suspension links each including a link 54 pivoted at 55 to a bearin plate 2| and a link 56 pivoted at 51 to a respective link 54 and pivoted at 58 to the frame of bed section A at the head end thereof. The combined length of the links, 55, 56 is such as to permit the head section A to move to a folded position closely adjacent the rear wall 12. The pivots 55 are disposed as near as possible to the front of the cabinet in order that the head section A may be allowed to substantially completely emerge from the storage space, with its head end disposed substantially in the forward plane of the cabinet as indicated in Fig. 6. The dis--. tance from the pivots 55 down to the pivots 58 in the extended position of the bed shown in Fig. 6 is, however, considerably less than the horizontal distance between pivots 55 and 58 in the folded position of the bed. Consequently, the links 54, 56 must fold toward each other in order to permit the pivots 55, 58 to become more closely spaced as the bed is extended. The pivots 5? permit this folding movement of the links 54, 55, and in order to control the movement of the head of the bed as it approaches the fully extended position, I provide stop pins 59 which are mounted in the bearing plates 2| and engage the links 54 before the latter reach completely depending positions, supporting the links 54 in the inwardly and downwardly inclined positions of Fig. 6. I also provide stop pins 60 which engage the links 55 and limit upward and forward swinging of the latter links around the pivots 51 so as to determine the height of the head end of section A when the bed has been fully extended. This height is of course determined so that the section A will be level.

The ends of the links 55 adjacent the pivots 58 are offset inwardly as indicated at 6| in Fig. 7, so that the links 55 and the major portions of links 55 may lie adjacent the side walls II of the cabinet, while the offset ends 6| lie adjacent the sides of the bed section A. The pur pose of this oilsetting is to provide for inward spacing of the sides of the bed sections from the cabinet walls II to make room for disposing the roller supports D and E in different planes, thereby to permit these roller supports to overlap each other in the folded position of the bed as indicated in Fig. 3. The spaced planes of the brackets 31 and 4| of the roller supports D and E respectively is shown in Fig. 10. Fig. 10 also illustrates how the roller supports F, being disposed in still further inwardly spaced planes, may be passed or overlapped by both the roller supports D and E as these latter roller supports approach each other, although the supports F are finally lifted to positions almost completely above the supports D and E;

The bracket arms 55 are guided and given lateral support by guideways 52 attached to the side walls ll of the cabinet, these guidewa-ys following roughly the path of movement of the arms 56.

The bed sections A and B carry an integral mattress section 16 equal in length to the com-- bined longitudinal dimensions of these sections, and the foot section C carries a mattress section 16 of corresponding shape and area. Mattress sections 16, 16 are preferably secured to the respective spring sections 21, 21', 2l.,v as by means of fabric covers enclosing the mattress sections and attached to the spring covers 28, 28', 28". Mattress section 16 is adapted to fold between spring sections 21, 21. To this end, the mattress sections are preferably oi foam rubber, although down or fiber stuited mattress sections, or, in some cases, in'nerspring mattress sections, could be used.

Secured to the head of the frame of bed section A- is a head board comprising a fixed section 63 and a folding section 54 hinged to the section 63 at 65. The folding section 64 is adapted to fold down against the covers at the head of the bed as shown in Fig. 5, thereby aiding in securing the covers in place. It is adapted to be extended to a position in the plane of the section 63 as shown in Fig. 6, to provide a headboard for the extended bed. The door panel i! has a hinged section 66 which is hinged at 6'! to the main body of the panel I! and adapted to fold downwardly to a depending position shown in Fig. 6, in the plane of'the head board 63, 64.

The foot section is provided with a footboard 68 which has a hand hole 69 providing a hands 10 by which the foo-t section may be grasped for manipulating the bed.

In the operation of the bed, when it is stowed to its extended position, the operator first raises the door panel I! and slides it back to the position shown in Figs. .1 and 5, the panel section 66 .in the horizontal position. The operator then grasps the handle 10 and simply pulls the bed outwardly through the open front of the cabinet, the bed sections B and C simultaneously moving bodily outwardly and opening downwardly as indicated by arrows'll and 12 of Fig. and the head section A swinging downwardly and outwardly as indicated by the arrow 13 of Fig. 5. The roller supports D will open in concert with the upward opening of the sections A and B, such opening of the roller supports D being arrested by the engagement of fingers 31 with pins 38 in hinges 29. The opening of roller supports D will result from the weight of the sections A and B applied to hinge pins 32 outwardly of the points of contact of rollers 39, 39' with the floor. The sections A and B will continue to open beyond the point where the opening movement of roller support D is arrested, the adjacent corners of these sections swinging upwardly and toward each other until they reach the. level of the pivots 32, where they will pass each other (with clear-, ance that has been provided with the opening of roller supports D) and move on up to the position's, shown in Fig. 6, in which the bed is extended. in a common horizontal plane'and the bed sections lie almost completely above the level of pivots 32. The operator will then push the brackets 3! together to close the gaps between them, and will fasten the brackets 3! together by means of latches 74, 15.

During the terminal stage of the opening movement, the bracket arms 46, 46 of roller supports F will have been engaged by lugs 39 andthereby spread apart to parallel positions in which their rollers 52, 52 will engage the floor and rollingly support the hinge 36 up to the end of the open-l ing' movement. f

In the terminal stage of downward and outward swinging movement of the head section A, the suspension arms '54 will engage the pins '59 and be thereby stopped, and from that point on, thelgfurther outward movement of the head secuse" will result in upward and outward Swinging movement of ,the above mentioned links 5.6, until the latter engage pins 60 will determine the final position of the head section in the general horizontal plane of the extended bed.

To return the bed to the stowed position, the operator simply unlatches T4, and then pushes downwardly and inwardly against the foot end of section C, causing the sections B and C to break upwardly and the sections B and A to, break downwardly. Continuation of the push will result in the three sections folding together screen or curtains.

accordion like and entering the cabinet. While I have shown and described my improved bed in connection with a receiving cabinet, .it is to be understood that the bed could be utilized without a cabinet. For example, the suspension. links 54 could be attached to any fixed support, such as a wall of a room, and the folded bed sections could be left exposed or draped with 21 Also, the door panel l'l,-in-. stead of being of a vertically swinging and horizontally s'iding tvpe, could embody horizontally swinging or horizontally sliding double doors.-

I claim:

1. In a folding bed, a cabinet providing a storage space, a sectional bed including an inner end section and an outer section connected to said inner end section for relative folding movement, means connecting the inner end of said end sec tion to the cabinet for swinging move ent of said end section from an upstanding pos tion in the rear of the storage space to a horizontal ex tended position substantially completely withdrawn from the cabinet. said connecting means comprising a pair of links pivotall connected together in end-to-end re ation. one ofsaid links being pivotally connected to the cabinet in the upper forward re ion of the stora e space for downward and forward swinging movement and the other link being pivotally connected" to the inner end of said end section for downward andforward and thence upward and forward swinging movement, and means 'to'arrest such downward and forward movement of said one link before it reaches a vertically depending position;-

2. A folding bed as defined in claim 1, include ing means to arrest forward movement of saidother link after it has passed through a"vertically' depending position, and to thereby position the adjacent endof said end bed section at a predetermined height. I r

3. In a folding bed, a cabinet providing a storage space having a height not more thanabout half the length of the bed, a plurality of bed sections including an inner end section, an intermediate section, and an outer, end section, means connecting. the inner end of said inner end section to the cabinetfor swinging movement of said end s'ectionf rom an extended horizontalposition to an upstanding position stowed in the rear of, said storage space, and vice versa, means connecting said inner end section to said intermediate section for downward breaking and folding of those two sections from the horizontal extended position, to the stowed position, with the intermediate section stowed in said storage Space immediately alongside and parallel to said inner end section, and means whereby said outer end section is hinged to the intermediate section for upward breaking of those two sections from the horizontal extended position to the stowed position, with the outer end section stowed in said storage space immediately adjacent and parallel to said intermediate section.

act-4,762-

4. A bed as defined in claim 3, in which said connecting means includes combined roller support and pivotal connecting means joinin said inner end section and intermediate section for combined spreading movment and pivotal movement about axes adjacent the bottoms of said sections, and in which said sections include springs the corners of which, during such pivotal movement, are guided past each other without interference as the result of said spreading movement, said connecting means further including supporting rollers for travelling on a floor surface or a supporting surface immediately adjacent a fioor surface.

5. In a folding bed, a pair of bed sections each provided with spring sections, and means joining said bed sections for downward breaking from a horizontal extended position, said means comprising a pair of brackets, hinge means joining said brackets to each other at their lower adjacent extremities, and pivots joining said bed sections to the respective brackets at points disposed above and outwardly on either side of the axis of said hinge means and near the bottoms of said bed sections, said hinge means providing for spreading of the upper extremities of said brackets to allow the adjoining up er corners of said spring sections to pass each other without interference during the pivotal movement of said bed sections.

6. A folding bed as defined in claim 5, including spring tension means connecting theupper extremities of said brackets and normally drawing them together. 7

7. A folding bed as defined in claim 5, including means to latch the upper extremities of said brackets together in adjacent relation.

' .8. A folding bed as defined in claim 5, including supporting rollers at the lower outer extremities of said brackets, adapted. to travel on a supporting surface and to facilitate said spreading movement while supporting said bed sections. 7

9. In a folding bed, means providin a fixed support and anchor, a plurality of bed sections including an inner end section, an intermediate section and an outer end section joined in series relation for accordion folding from an extended horizontal position to a sto ed osition in which the three sections are arranged in side by side, immediately adjacent, u standing relation, and vice versa, and roller supports for the respective sections on which they may travel horizontally on a floor surface to and from the stowed posi-. tion, and means suspending the inner end'of said inner end section from said fixed support for swinging movement between said positions.

10. In a folding bed, means providing a fixed support and anchor, a sectionalbed including an inner end section, an intermediate section and an outer end s ction, each provided with a spring section, means joining the inner end section to the intermediate section, said means including a pair of bracket members to the upper extremities of which said inner end section and intermediate section are pivotally connected for upward swinging movement from a horizontal extended position to upstanding, immediately adjacent positions, said bracket members being hinged together near their lower extremities for spreadin movement of their upper extremities to permit the upper adjacent corners of the corresponding spring sections to pass without interference, rollers on said brackets, for rolling engagement with a floor surface to support said bracket members and the bed sections supported thereby for rolling movement toward and from said fixed support, hinge means connecting said intermediate section to said outer end section for upward breaking from the extended position toward an upstanding position immediately adjacent the intermediate section, roller support means for supporting said hinge means for rolling movement on said floor surface, and means connecting the inner end of said inner end section to said fixed support for swinging movement between said extended and upstanding positions.

11. In a folding bed, means providing a fixed support and anchor, a sectional bed including an inner end section, an intermediate section and an outer end section, connecting joints connecting the inner end section to the intermediate sec tion and the intermediate section to the outer end section for accordion folding of the three sections from extended horizontal positions in a common level plane to side-by-side upstanding stowed positions adjacent said fixed support, with the joint between the inner and intermediate sections breaking downwardly and the joint between the intermediate and outer sections breaking upwardly from the extended position, and roller supports for supporting each of said joints for rolling movement on a floor surface between said extended and upstanding positions.

12.1n a folding bed, a cabinet providing a storage space and a fixed support at the rear thereof, a sectional bed including an inner end section, an intermediate section and an outer end section, connecting joints connecting the inner end section to the intermediate section and the intermediate section to the outer end section for accordion folding of the three sections from extended horizontal positions in a common level plane to side-by-side upstanding stowed positions adjacent said fixed support, and received in said storage space with the joint between the inner and intermediate sections breaking downwardly and the joint between the intermediate and outer sections breaking upwardly from the extended l position, and roller supports for supporting each of said joints for rolling movement on a floor surface between said extended and upstanding positions.

13. A folding bed as defined in claim 11, in which the roller support for the joint between the intermediate and outer sections comprises a pair of arms hinged to these respective sections adjacent their connecting joint, and adapted to have swinging movement toward their respective sections, yielding tension means connecting said arms for urging them toward each other, and means for limiting such movement toward each other so as to cause said arms to be drawn by said yielding tension means into positions parallel to each other and at right angles to their respective bed sections when the latter are in the extended position.

14. A folding bed as defined in claim 11, including roller support means for the outer bed section, comprising a pair of brackets having extended bases, rollers supporting the respective corners of said bases, and a shaft the respective ends of which are secured to the upper extremities of the respective brackets intermediate the respective rollers, said shaft pivotally supporting an intermediate region of said outer section, whereby a downward and inward push against the outer end of said outer section will result in the breaking of said joints as aforesaid. 15. A folding bed as defined in claim 14, wherein 13 said brackets are spaced outwardly of the roller supports for the joint between the inner and intermediate sections and adapted to overlap said last mentioned roller supports in the said stowed positions.

GENE CHAPPEL LOCHRIDGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number 

